


Fourside Blues

by The_Exile



Category: EarthBound
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Community: picfor1000, Debt, F/M, Mild Language, Minor Spoilers, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 03:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5727757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/pseuds/The_Exile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Runaway Five are still down on their luck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fourside Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Image prompt: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/3047321137 . Community: http://picfor1000.livejournal.com/ .

"Freedom, freedom, is what I want..." Lucky's slurred singing was muted by the beer glass he had at his lips and the amount of it he had already drank. Staring into it, he frowned, counting the stains on it where only a token attempt had been made to wipe it down with a rag that probably had even more stains on it.

The bar had been a decent coffee house, once, before the Moonside Incident had gotten them into more legal trouble than Lucky was in debt. You could buy the strongest coffee in Eagleland, some of it even imported from Saturn Valley where there weren't any laws against caffeinated drinks giving you prophetic visions. Come to think of it, the strength of the Starman Deluxe, not to mention the Escargo Espresso, was probably illegal in and of itself. Maybe they were doomed to closure eventually, once Fourside was no longer ruled by a dodgy businessman who approved of being too busy to sleep. Something like the Moonside incident couldn't really have happened anywhere else. Maybe it was fate, although that didn't hold too well in court when the judge asked why there had been a stolen religious artifact in the basement next door in the first place.

Now it was the cheapest dive in Fourside. It was a shame but at least it meant that losers like Lucky had somewhere to drink their sorrows away in peace. Despite the temptation, there wasn't really trouble in the bar, only other people down on their luck like him, people who kept themselves to themselves. It kept the atmosphere subdued. The Blues soundtrack helped. You're supposed to sing from experience, Lucky thought, so maybe we should be a Blues band, not a jazz band.

 

"What're you muttering about?" asked Gorgeous, returning with another couple of drinks. The other four hadn't turned up yet, "Inspiration hit? Any new song lyrics?"

Lucky shook his head.

"It'll come to you," promised Gorgeous, pouring the drinks, "Maybe the next beer will help."

"It's not going to."

"Hey, you don't know that!"

"There'll be another song, and another after that, but they'll all sound the same and nothing will change," said Lucky, "We'll still be in debt, we'll still end up with some shitty contract tying us down, because it's who we are. Hell, the fans wouldn't know what to do with themselves if we ever actually made it big."

"Well then, do it for the fans. We can't give up. You know that. We can't lose who we are."

"I'm not saying to give up," said Lucky, "But we need to try something different. Before we end up like this place."

"What do you suggest, then? Go out into the desert and dig for gold? Find another evil robot and kick its butt again?"

"Well, for a start, I think we need some more outside help."

"We can't afford a lawyer or agent. Not if we want to trust them not to screw us over again."

"How about phoning that number we all know you got left?"

Gorgeous' face went red and he spurted out his beer all over the table, "You know I can't do that!"

"Why not? You allergic to pretty ladies now? Or just shy?"

"Can't we talk about this somewhere private?"

"You've had a month to talk it over. We can all tell you're putting it off," Lucky took a long swig of beer, "I've seen the way she looks at you. She really likes you."

"That's what she's supposed to look like. It's her job."

"Well, she doesn't give the rest of us that look. Not the real thing, anyway."

"She's gonna hit it big with that voice and those looks of hers. She doesn't deserve to be held down by deadbeats like us," Gorgeous raised his own glass and muttered into it, barely coherent, "She's like a songbird. An angel. I can't talk to her when I can't think straight around her."

"Ha, I knew you felt something for her," Lucky grinned, "It's okay, Gorgeous, she wants to help. That's why she went out of her way to track us down and leave the note."

"Can't you guys at least come with me?"

"We can give you a lift in the van, maybe say hi, but it's got to come from you. It's not us she likes."

"Well, it's all of us who need help, not just me," he said, suddenly serious, "Even if this does... go well... I'm not leaving the band. Not for anything or anyone."

"You're a good friend."

Even if I know I can't hold you to that, Lucky thought. He had seen it happen before with bands and he knew that love could have some profound, irresistible effects on a man. If Gorgeous did leave, he'd understand, and he'd think up some other way to save the band, maybe ask those kids for help again. Poo was supposed to have inherited the throne of Dalaam, so he probably had money.

He let out a long sigh as he remembered those four kids, what they had done for the entire Universe. Back then, when the news was fresh, everyone thought it would be a bigger thing that it was, some kind of fresh start for the world. There had been grand promises of peace between nations, to clean up crime globally, work on all sorts of inventions, some of which worked, some of which didn't. It had taken people years to realise that the only real consequence of stopping the Universe from being destroyed is that the Universe isn't destroyed. Afterwards, you still had to clean up the mess, pay the bills, fight the legal cases, catch up on your work, explain to people where the heck you've been for the last few months. 

At least Gorgeous was singing a happier tune when he stood up and vanished from the bar. It took Lucky a few seconds to notice he had been left with the bill.


End file.
